Buying presents for family living abroad

I sent a thin scarf to Europe recently which fitted into a normal sized envelope, I had it weighed and if I wanted it tracked post was £10. It took nearly 2 weeks to get there.

To be honest, we agreed many years ago to stop sending gifts as it was becoming ridiculously expensive when postage was added and also, didn’t really know what to buy anyway as we all had what we needed or could save up and get it when we did need it, so settled on just sending a nice card and a phone call, the latter being much more precious to me. I suppose it must be different if it’s children you have abroad, but for me it is a sibling and their children and now their children. We’ve just agreed to do similar with other family members in this country, too. The whole present giving thing was becoming a nightmare, knowing what to buy within a given budget as we are all now either retired or approaching it. The commercial side of Christmas won’t profit much from us this year, and to be honest, it’s a relief.

Our postal service is totally dire in Australia. They actually announced they were freezing deliveries for a week because they could not cope. These days we only get 2 deliveries a week on a good week and we are in the suburbs, not out in the bush. It costs heaps,too but that happens when things get privatised I suppose. Don’t get me started …..

What about Australian Amazon? They will gift wrap and deliver. Or find a local company near to where they live to deliver. I had a local company in Sydney deliver a Christmas hamper to my friends there.

I use Baby Bunting and Toy Universe in Australia for good gift for babies and children. For mum and dad I use Gourmet Hampers in Australia with a wide selection too. My lot love them. You can also order from M&S.com Australia and if you spend over a certain amount delivery is free and arrives in one week usually.
I’ve used all these very successfully.

My son lives in NZ so I find a supplier over there to order from. It's nice to support businesses local to him.

After Brexit you need to be aware that gifts sent to EU countries may land the recipient with a customs bill.

There are some stores that include the customs duties in the price of goods and will organise customs clearance

I still send parcels to Canada, Germany, Ireland and Scotland and the postage is getting ridiculous. I must do something about it.
But how to broach the subject?

When my American niece was in her teens or still a student, I used to send $$$, concealed in a small, light gift, e.g, a purse or slim paperback, or wrapped around a small box of After 8s (she loved those). I would declare the gift on the label but obviously not the cash. Never had a problem.

I guess there are many options- chocolates or just cards!

PhilippaA

For my relatives in Australia and USA I always use The Book Depository. Masses of choice and NO POSTAGE COSTS.
www.bookdepository.com

Oh yes, I’ve used them many times.

I’ve ordered Australian garden centre vouchers online or Bunnings vouchers Or you can buy toys from online shops

Anyone have any recommendations for online presents for our family in Singapore?The postage for there is also expensive. We have resorted to transferring money but it isn’t the same as receiving a gift.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

... Have no rellies..... ?

I corrected that twice!

This is the sort of thing I meant in my post above. They are based in Joondaloop, WA and have British goods in store for sending within Australia. Which means you can add a pressie for the Christmas barbie practically at the last minute.

This is not a personal recommendation as I have no relies there to try it out on. Scuse the lingo, but reading the website has made me start thinking in Strine.

bestofbritish.com.au/

Claretjan my daughter and family live in Grovedale, VIC, about an hour from Melbourne. I’ve used:-

www.giftsaustralia.com.au/

a few times. They particularly enjoyed:-

www.giftsaustralia.com.au/buy/mornington-peninsula-hot-springs-day-trip-from-mel/5325BHSBH

and have requested it again this year. Hope that helps.

We live overseas (Far East), and have family/friends in various countries, so we were often having to send gifts at great expense ... until I discovered that Selfridges have a fantastic deal!

For only 40 pounds a year, you can sign up online for their SELFRIDGES + GLOBAL deal. You can send as many orders as you like, worldwide, regardless of weight, or size, for a whole year, and they remind you to renew when your 12 months is nearly up. There are no other delivery charges once you've paid the one-off fee for the GLOBAL deal.

There's something for everyone ... great toys/books, beauty products, and everything else you'd expect from Selfridges!
Their service is fantastic, everything is well packaged, and all are courier deliveries which arrive very quickly, often within a days ... even to remote locations in SE Asia!

In the past, we've ordered for ourselves things such as a dinner service, heavy cast iron casseroles, pots & pans, etc., which would all be way too heavy, and expensive, to send over here.

The deal has been worth every penny, and we've had far more than our monies worth with just one order!

I buy throughout the year for my son and his family in Canberra. If I see something which is suitable, small and light I buy in advance. I send my son and his partner one present each and several for my grandchildren to unwrap. I also send them aussie dollars and various sweets and chocolate that they don't get there. I sent a parcel yesterday which was 7kg and cost £64.50. I always use what used to be ipost parcels and is now DHL. I don't mind paying that much for postage as it arrives within a week and they are far more reliable than Royal mail or parcel force.

For my relatives in Australia and USA I always use The Book Depository. Masses of choice and NO POSTAGE COSTS.
www.bookdepository.com

I have always sent packages to my grandsons in AUS x but now use amazon AUS or K Mart

Open a Moneycorp account and convert the deposited money to $AUD then buy online there and have items delivered direct to them. I bought a tree for someone that way, worked very well

When my son was in Canada I used Amazon Canada to send gift vouchers, also very light weight parcel via the post just so there would have something to unwrap on the day.

I send parcels early..by surface mail...so much cheaper

Based on my experience of sending stuff to the US, I would say:

Never use the Royal Mail. Much too expensive.

Use sites which find the best deals amongst the various carriers. We preferred ones with drop-off points rather than waiting for our parcel to be collected, because sometimes they didn't turn up.

Even if you use something like Parcel2go, it is always expensive.

Be aware that couriers have different rules and these aren't always clear. For example, our family misses British tea and chocolate, so we have tried to include that in our parcels. Some couriers won't accept it. One did and then returned the parcel to us as it contained "forbidden items." Eventually we found that UPS were the best bet. Even so, there's a strong possibility that the parcel will be opened by US Customs.

Give up, sign up to Amazon in their country and get your stuff from there. We now buy them vouchers and let them choose their own stuff.